It is at the southeast corner of Buena Vista at Parkside. I saw what I’m guessing was the 2nd rescue, which did not seem terribly drastic based on how slowly the rescue team was moving. There were about 4 firetrucks, PG&E & other assorted police & fire officials.

The entire house is totaled. The firemen were fighting a 2nd small flame after awhile, but quickly put it out. It seemed as though they were knocking down walls to make sure no residual fire erupted.

Any entrance to Buena Vista is blocked off from the Parkside end for now as they ensure the fire is totally out. Don’t know how long that will last.

I have a couple of photos if you want them, but professional photographers came as did a helicopter which seemed to being taking photos.

@Anon 12
People are ignorant to have allowed our public representatives to approve the pension boondoggle in the first place. If total compensation were reasonable, we could afford more firefighters and more stations.

What rescue school did you attend? Just because you don’t see firemen running around panicked doesn’t mean it wasn’t a legitimate rescue. They are trained to be calm and collected. They get a big picture of what they are dealing with before they affect a rescue. If people simply had blinders on and rushed into a burning home, both victim and rescuers get hurt, or die. Turn off your cable TV and try to actually understand how the fire department really works before you play armchair quarter back. Slow is smooth, smooth is fast!

Congrats Mayor! Heard about the fire on KGO coming home today… they even credited Claycord as reporting first!! Smiled all the way thru the traffic. Hope the woman is recovering quickly, had to be a scary time for her.

@Anon (“afraid to give any name”) I am sorry that you are ignorant to the actual pension and wage package that firefighters receive. BTW, please don’t quote the “half truth” Contra Costa Times Salary Survey. That does not show that the Firefighters in Contra Costa County pay the highest public employee contribution in the USA, and actually pay a large portion of the “Employer Share”. I am sorry that you are either ignorant or have an axe to grind with firefighters, but your pension statement does not apply in this case.

@Ugly Eagle (“afraid to give any name”)
Sorry to burst your bubble, but I do know what I’m talking about. I practiced as a CPA for years and audited pensions (including the pension at Contra Costa County). I’ve listened to talks by County Administrator David Twa, Dan Borenstein, S.F. Public Defender Jeff Adachi, and so on. I’ve listened to the questions posed by fire district employees (fire fighters) during those talks. You are the ones who just don’t get it.

I know you are contributing more than other groups. That’s because the County BOS did such a bad job funding the future pension benefits. You’re still not contributing enough for the future pension benefits you will receive when you retire.

I would like to see a study that compares what our public employees received in total compensation (salaries, health and pension benefits) back in the 60’s and 70’s (adjusted for inflation) to total compensation today. I bet anything that the total compensation today is much higher than it was (in real dollars) in the 60’s and 70’s. Why is it that our public employees were willing to work so hard for far less back in the good old days? Unions never should have been allowed into the public sector.

For someone that thinks he is a smart guy, you actually came up quite short. Your opinions are just that, opinions (not facts). This comes from listening and trusting people like Dan Borenstein and even Jeff Adachi. You probably worshiped Kris Hunt as well. They misled you but you still cling to their foolish claims. Why does that not surprise me? You just don’t get it.

So you practiced as a CPA.-good for you. I have no reason to doubt that but when you go on to say you have “audited the pension at Contra Costa County” , that makes no sense. That would be the job of the auditor/controller which clearly you aren’t. Especially when you claim it’s because the “County “BOS did such a bad job funding future pension benefits”. How is it you missed the fact that this is not done by the County BOS, but by the County Retirement Board? An entirely different agency! Dan Borenstein and company schooled you well. I’ll bet dollars to donuts that you are a dues paying member of the CCTax club and drink the koolaid they serve over there. If it were up to you, I’ll also wager you would have our emergency services (police and fire) working for peanuts, because your ignorance leads you to believe you won’t be in need of their services. You would be wrong again. See a pattern?

We don’t live in the 60’s or 70’s. It’s time for you to advance your thinking 50 years ahead into the present and stop blaming everyone else for your outdated concepts.

Hahaha! Way to go “policy of truth”! So many of these so called experts on this blog just chew up and spit out exactly what they read in the times. Really quite a shame people here can’t do their own research.

WOW! Can’t believe how some people’s comments are about politics and sh**. There is a woman in very REAL danger here. She is a friend’s grandmother. Whatever you may all think, she is not good. I am sorry you all feel the way you do, but I care more about the grandmother than firefighters, money and politics. Prayers and wishes for speedy recovery to the family.

Unless you are in the 1%, which obviously most of us are not ,you are foolish to decry unions. They are the only thing we have left to keep the greedy rich in check. If you think the big businessmen with the large house and fancy car cares one bit about anyone but themselves then you have been bamboozled. They could care less about jobs, wages, working conditions, or safety unless it directly affects there ledger balance. They ran the housing market into the ground and wrung every last dollar out. They ship jobs by the millions overseas but don’t turn away millions in tax breaks. The game is always set up so they win and we lose. The best part for them is they have scores of idiots out there that are brainwashed into thinking its someone else’s fault.

@27
The public employee unions are the greedy rich and are impoverishing the middle-income and lower-middle income families by taxing us more and by charging higher rates for public transportation, etc.

@Policy of Truth
You know nothing about the truth. The County retains independent outside auditors. Also, I am not blindly relying on what is printed in the Times or what Mr. Twa, Mr. Borenstein or Mr. Adachi have said. I have also spoken directly with an actuary who has consulted on the pension mess. I’m sorry you can’t understand the truth when it’s staring you in the face, but I’m not surprised. The only people who don’t “get it” are the ones who stand to benefit from the unsustainable pension benefits. I imagine you are one of those.

You would be wrong on all counts. (Wow, what a surprise!)
I know more about the county and issue than you will ever know. Not only do I consult, but I am on a first name basis with the above mentioned. Do you really want to play the credential game?

Are you a member of the CCTax club? ( I noticed you didn’t touch that one).

I guess the truth ticks you off? I imagine you are one of those. Typical. And for the record, you couldn’t carry my wallet.

@Policy of Truth-
Come back with some facts to support your opinion. And, you know what they say about consulting – It’s just like the oldest profession. The consultant gets paid to do exactly what the client asks him/her to do. And, at the end of the engagement, he/she collects his/her money and tells his/her client how much he/she enjoyed the engagement. What kind of consultant are you? I call B.S.

@And the winner is….
You are undoubtedly the same idiot as Policy of Truth.

Anonymous who claims to be an auditor……….well you can’t be an auditor as you broke the cardinal rule of any professional auditor. It is highly unethical to discuss finding with the media and this blog is a form of media……As such you need to turn yourself over to the state accountancy board so your license can be reviewed for improprieties such as breach of confidence and the proper sanction may be administered. I learned in an auditing class while getting my Public Administration degree at UW (University of Washington). CPA standards are the same across the US but each state required its own license because if generates some pretty good revenue.

Also you are a bit confused as CC County and CCERA are 2 different entities and are never audited by the same firm. In reality very few firms do governmental audits and as far as I know there are only 3 companies within California that perform them. Until recently Macias Gini was the only local company that did governmental audits. The third entity in the picture CCFPD which is an autonomous district of the CCC…As for Borenstien when will the uneducated get a clue he is nothing more than a mindless hack with career envy of anyone in safety. If he and Kris Hunt (another real piece of work) were concerned about waste of money they would be all of the county like white on rice about retiree temps abuse. You know those that retiree and come back and work for years as temps double dipping from the system. That is costing the tax payers millions as some are “temps” and others are contractors on fat contracts. Add to that the millions the county spends translating everything into Spanish…..well those things are the real waste. They both have been handed names, facts and figures but since they are in the hip pocket of an extremely conservative county that is currently run by a “carpet bagger” (David Twa) who is making $260,000 + benefits including retirement and $30,000 county contribution to his deferred comp (FYI – he retired from Minnesota before moving here so why does he need our retirement???) and the Tax Payers Assoc is a group of ultra conservative Rossmorites nothing will happen to eliminate the real waste……..Truth is not in any of their vocabularies
So there are the facts…………go check them out after you turn yourself into the state board of accountancy

Shame on all of you talking about Money and Firefighters Really ,! This is about a Women who lost her home and that is in a Hospital. The person that monitors this site needs to do some clean up .I love this site .But it turns into more of a complaning site .Lets just stick to the Facts of the Story .

Also Anonymous -I will be forwarding the part in your post about chatting with an actuary as the same goes as with an auditor…..Written reports are published but no chatting is allowed. I will forward your comment to Supervisor Mitchoff who is now sitting on the retirement board (in place of Supervisor Gioia) and to board members Richard Cabral, Brian Haas and Jerry Tellis so they can begin an investigation of the actuarial firm

@Mar. I totally agree with you. I know the family and they are trying to deal with a major tragedy right now and all people can do is argue about politics and other BS. My heart and prayers go out to the family in this time of need. I love them very much and just wish that some people had a heart or even half a brain as to care about someone other than themselves. Thank you for you words Mar.

@BCuzItzClaycord-
I mentioned I am a retired CPA. When I started into public accounting, most of the “Big Eight” firms audited cities, counties, school districts, colleges and universities and so on.

I didn’t divulge any non-public or confidential information. Besides, the County is a public agency and is supposed to be transparent. I won’t be turning myself over to the State Board of Accountancy anytime soon. But I have to admit, that comment was funny:)

Everyone knows the pension is in trouble. I understand the County and CCERA are different entities. If you had ever practiced as a CPA, you would know far more about auditing and financial audits than you think you learned in your auditing class.

The actuary I spoke with does not work for CCERA or the County to my knowledge. The actuary is also retired. And, the actuary didn’t relay any confidential information about CCERA or the County. If the County releases information, any CPA or Actuary can explain what the numbers mean.

Good luck with your friends on the County BOS who have sold us down the river. They know the pension liability is terribly underfunded and will only get worse if they don’t address the problem. Unfortunately, they are bought and paid for by the employee unions.

Borenstein knows far more about the pension problem than you will ever admit to knowing and probably more than you are capable of knowing. Jeff Adachi also understands the problem. He is one of the few public employees who will acknowledge the problem even though he is a beneficiary of the system. He is obviously far more honest and knowledgeable than you.

I assume you are a public employee if you received a degree in Public Administration. If you’re so smart, why don’t you fix the problem. Oh, but you don’t think there is a problem. You and your ilk are the problem.

@Mary and @A Friend
I am sorry a public employee hijacked this thread initially (Anon #12). I probably shouldn’t have “fed the troll” but sometimes even trolls need to eat (their words).

The Mayor already posted an update to the story and I hope that thread stays focused on your friend and her recovery. Family and friends and other concerned Claycordians should post their thoughts and prayers on that thread, as I have done.

I’ll ask you once again, are you a current/former member of the Contra Costa Taxpayers Association? It’s a very simple question which can be answered with one word.

For bonus points why don’t you enlighten us which board members of the BOS are “Bought and Paid for”? How they are paid and how they were bought? I believe your accusations to be tempting “low hanging fruit” to those angered or confused about local government…however it would once again be false information provided by you.

You come across as having a degree of pension envy while doing your best to cover for the shortcomings of your information and that of Daniel Borenstein.

Borenstein knows little about that which he opines. This is proven often by industry experts in finance, pension administration and economics across the state. Where is his accountability? Better yet, where did he train to be an expert on pensions, economics or policy? We all know the answer-he didn’t. If he was so bright, ask yourself why is he stuck writing piecemeal bits for a newspaper? Certainly someone with his intellect would be using his talents to earn an income a little higher than that of a journalistic hack. It doesn’t quite make sense. Ironic that he glamored someone as colorful as you.

I digress. Back to the simple question regarding your membership or affiliation to the Contra Costa Taxpayers association. Hope you can muster an honest answer.

@Policy of Truth-
I just joined Contra Costa Taxpayers’ Association a few months ago, after having attended a few of the speaker presentations and realizing that Borenstein and Adachi are right and you (or your type) and the public employee unions are wrong.

You can do your own research on who financed the BOS campaigns. Mike McGill is far more qualified than Karen Mitchoff and it’s unfortunate the Unions backed her. Unfortunately, they all answer to special interests rather than the public interest.

One of the Vallejo City Council members mentioned that one of the questions a Union asked during the interview was, “We want to know if you will stay bought.” The Unions don’t even try to hide their agenda.

I have no pension envy. I will have a comfortable retirement. I just want what’s fair for everyone. If public employees don’t have to worry about how they invest their money and don’t have to worry about stock market fluctuations, they have no skin in the game and no incentive to make things right. Private employees (union and non-union) will continue to suffer as they are called upon to fund the unsustainable public employee pensions.

What is not fair is the massive ponzi scheme our legislators have created by not funding deferred pension liabilities currently. Our children and grandchildren will suffer reduced and compromised government services and higher taxes because legislators wanted to increase public employee pensions (rather than adjust current wages) and essentially kicked the can down the road.

Closing a few fire stations is just the beginning. Eventually, the public employee unions may realize what they’ve done (when state and local agencies have to lay off more employees and fee out the work and when they feel the pinch of declining membership and union dues).

I think the U.S. Government needs to revise ERISA so everyone receives a fair pension and the same deductions. State law should also change. Maybe the state wouldn’t be broke if it disallowed deductions for current employee contributions. Employees would still contribute if they could still deduct pension contributions on their U.S. tax return.

I think defined benefit plans are outdated. When the U.S. Government allowed (and possibly encouraged) private companies to do away with defined benefit plans and move to defined contribution plans, the same should have happened in the public sector. The U.S. Government changed its pension plan to 1% and 30 back in the 1980’s. They also offered a defined contribution plan. That would be fair. Unfortunately, as it currently stands, our public employee pensions are unsustainable.

I don’t have a problem with socialism per se. If everyone works for the Government, we will all receive fair compensation and fair retirement benefits. But, we will not be able to afford our own salary and benefits if we receive the same level of compensation and benefits as our California public servants (which becomes more egregious as you move from the state to the local level). We could look to France for guidance since even their CEOs are represented. What doesn’t work well is partial socialism/partial capitalism and the greed that pervades both systems.

Why not have some financial analysts/experts figure out how much people should save for a comfortable retirement and work backwards from there?
Nobody should need 60 to 90% of a $250,000 ending salary (or more if you add the other pension plans – 457, etc.). Nobody should need 60 to 90% of any last-year’s salary (or the salary for the year they choose).

Defined benefit plans used to be 1% a year for the average salary over a 30-year period, then changed to 10-years, then to 5 years, then to the ridiculous formula we currently have.

You sound like the Union representatives who try to challenge Borenstein and fail miserably. You say “Borenstein knows little about that which he opines.” But you have no facts or figures to corroborate your assertion. Where is your accountability?

I can look at the pension information objectively. Can you do the same? Are you a public employee with a pension at stake? It’s a simple question. I hope you can muster an honest answer. Jeff Adachi took a critical look at the problem even though he stands to benefit from a public employee pension. I think it’s called “integrity.”

3. I have all of the facts and figures. However I don’t claim to be accountable-just truthful. Borenstein has neither.

4. As for your question to me personally, the answer is no.

5. As for your ending statement about Adachi, you mistake “integrity”, for “lack of knowledge” (Remember, even a broken clock is right twice a day). Actually “Ignorance” works too. It’s simple he doesn’t get it, nor does he want to. I’m OK with that. He would fit in perfectly with the CCTax cult.

6. I hope you didn’t spend too much time with your previous reply. I wager that most readers tuned out as soon as you confirmed; “I just joined Contra Costa Taxpayers’ Association a few months ago…”

All I can say is…. it’s easy to complain about what the situation is today. It is what it is. It’s easy to blame the Firefighters and their unions for the closing of stations due to high costs of retirements…. where was Bornstein when the contracts were negotiated? Easy to complain now huh? The problem is, regardless of what HAS occurred…. what will occur if more stations close is the loss of life. How does Bornstein “CPA” that on a spread sheet? At the funeral, be sure to toss a couple of bucks into the grave….and say you’re sorry. The Bornstien’s can complain about things all they want, they CANT change contracts already approved and they CANT roll back pay according to their wishes and the LAW… Make changes in the future? More power to ya…. I get it. But unless you’ve walked in the shoes of a public safety employee, pay your dues and be thankful they were there to save your life or property. If not, close more stations and see what you get when you call 911. Good luck

@Policy of Truth
What good is a policy of truth if you don’t have any facts to share?

1. You’re welcome for my “yes” answer “you little know-it-all, you.”

2. We don’t live in Vallejo, but we can see it from here. We also don’t live in Bell, California, but we can see it from here. Ironically, one of my ancestors was Fire Chief in Bell, California and later served on Council. That was long before greed and corruption took over.

3. If you have all the facts and figures, it’s interesting that you haven’t shared one bit of useful information in all your posts.

4. If you don’t benefit from a public pension, you know even less about the pension mess than I gave you credit for. I guess you must care very deeply about someone else (a parent, child, spouse, etc.) and their public employee pension benefits. You must personally stand more to gain than the rest of us taxpayers stand to lose from pushing the pension problem down the road.

5. Jeff Adachi is extremely knowledgeable. He recognizes that we can’t continue to provide services when more and more of his annual budget is eaten up by pension costs for people who retired long ago. That’s what happens when you defer expenses. They have a way of catching up to you. Social Security is another example. But, the Government is willing to renege on the social security benefits (defer retirement age, etc.) We don’t have the same option for public employee pensions (although it may happen if more cities or other public agencies are forced to declare bankruptcy).

6. I didn’t spend too much time on my previous reply. It was for your benefit alone, as I assume any other readers tuned out long before your post #s 39 and 39.

I don’t need to rely on CoCo Tax for my information. I can verify the information myself. Since I have an audit background, and an MBA in finance and accounting, I am used to throwing a jaundiced eye at the information and I can spot bias and b.s. in a heartbeat. You didn’t disappoint.

Anonymous – the tax payers assoc and Borenstie are soooo savvy why are they not addressing the real drain on the county……..the hospital and its clinics. They are suppose to b e “enterprise” funds which means they are suppose to be self sustaining but over half of the counties budget goes to them. Monies have been cut from the library, public works, DA and Sheriff in the past few years to float a health system that is out of control with spending. The system rights of billions a year in services that are either for uninsured illegals, uninsured general population, things that MediCal does not cover etc. This is one of 7 Counties in the state that still runs a hospital and it the only county that does not have a major city (like LA, SF, Oakland) attatched to it but still runs a major health care system as if they did have a major city..
Pensions are not what is going to break the county…………the hospital will. This county will not have any Sheriffs or Firefighter but damn the will have a hospital or 2 (they are about ready to take over Brookside in San Pablo) that will bleed that tax payer…..it won’t be pension.
Also the entire “OPEB” is just a GAO dog & pony show. GAO had to come up with something to justify their existence….in a few years they will go “ooops we were wrong” which is what GAO always does. What will cause issues with the pension fund will be the fact that this county will not be able to recruit the long term employees to feed the fun as they are become very non-competitive with other local agencies. All they will be able to get is the dregs……as it is go to an office and find someone to deal with that speaks English as their first language……………good freakin luck, But what do I care…………..have only been here a couple of years and will soon be gone. So all I say is people like you will get what you deserve…..crappy services as nobody of any worth will want to work for Contra Costa County or any of its autonomous agencies.

Anonymous – We all get the point, that you are anti pension, anti tax, anti public employee. Please let us all know what your solution (immediate) would be to stop the further erosion of fire protection and fire station closures. Pension Fixes now will not result in cost savings for decades.
Unfortunately Kris Hunt, Dan Borenstein, and other critics have yet to offer an alternative plan to providing fire protection to the citizens of this county. It is very easy to sit on the sidelines and throw rocks, but to come up with meaningful discussion, reform. and implement a plan is much tougher. Many would argue that it was corporate greed that led to this whole mess, including the collapse of the housing market, wall street, main street. Legal Gambling (Derived instruments, credit default swaps) led to the demise of this country and almost toppled this entire economy. So to blame some firemen and cops for this huge mess is a stretch. I am sorry, but your argument does not pass the smell test, and luckily the readers and public are smarter than you give them credit for.

I am not anti anything. I don’t blame firemen and cops. I am pro equal pay/compensation for equal work and we will never get there with unions and other special interests controlling our public officials.

I’m keen on the techniques an individual provide in your posts. We’ll book mark a person’s blog page and check out once again listed here generally. I will be a little specified I’ll be told plenty of brand new things right here! All the best for the!

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